A Change in Direction
by JamieStu
Summary: [Based on The Walking Dead Game Episodes 2-5] What happens when Society goes to hell? When you fight the dead and fear the living? After coming back from the chaos at St. John's dairy, the survivors are trying to get back to before. With everything that is happening around them and the Motor Inn, it won't be that easy. [Story with a different storyline than normal and some CarLee!]
1. Chapter 1

As Carley was putting her arm through her purple vest, she heard a loud knock on the door. As she shuffled over to unlock the door, she slid her light purple vest over her long sleeve top and zippered it up three quarters of the way. As she slowly unlocked the door, there was a tall male figure in front of her staring back down at her. She soon realized that figure was the one and only Lee Everett. Her eyes lightened with joy, and her face showed a smile. Lee was the only adult in the group that she could really trust. She didn't have a problem with that. She always knew she had feelings for Lee at the start when she saved him from the walkers at the Drugstore. She never had the chance to mention it to him though.

"Would you like to come and eat, Carley?" Lee said, with a smile on his face. She nodded, having Lee lead them to the rest of the group that was eating the rations behind the RV. As she reached down to grab half of an apple, she noticed Clementine had the other half. As she looked at her, Clementine smiled and winked at Carley, mouthing: 'The apple is good.' Carley nodded her head to show she understood.

As Carley headed back to her room, she passed Lee who didn't have anything to snack on.

"Aren't you going to eat something? There's plenty left," Carley asked Lee, curiously. Lee looked over to the rations sitting on the table.

"Nah, I'm fine. I'd rather save the food for the rest of the group," he said, looking at Carley once he finished his sentence. She smiled. That's what Carley always liked about Lee. He cared for others before himself. She went back to head to her room, stopping in her path, looking back at the tall man.

"I need to talk to you, later." Carley said, looking back at Lee who was looking back at her.

"Okay, I'll catch up with you in a bit." Lee said back, smiling and heading to talk to Clementine. He watched Carley go back to her room. He watched as she walked up the stairs, and she ended up looking back at him and smiling. Lee felt warm inside. He felt different about Carley than he does with anyone else in the group. Lee smiled to himself, realizing he was in a better mood than before.

"Hey Clem. Was your apple good?" Lee asked Clem, kneeling on the pavement.

"It was good! Did you see Carley got the other half? I think she said it was good too." As Clementine said Carley, Lee warmed up inside again. There was just something about her that made Lee feel that way. After talking to Clementine, Lee headed up to talk to Carley. He went up the stairs, turning his head to see her. His eyes were caught on her emerald eyes. They were just so perfect.

"Hey Lee." Carley said, with little smirk on her face. "I just wanted to tell you that I think about you. A lot." Carley said, looking down at her feet afraid of what he would say.

There was a moment of silence, then Lee responded to Carley, "I think about you too," Carley looked up from her feet, her cheeks turning red. She didn't think Lee would feel that way about her because she wasn't sure if he was still hooked on his past or not.

"You should tell the group about your past so the group can hear it from you and not someone else," Carley said, looking at members of the group below her. "Just let the people that you trust know," she said, after a moment of silence between the two of them.

"I will. Thanks for looking out for me, Carley." Lee admitted, heading down the stairs.

"Oh Lee, come back when you're done, okay? I'd like to know what happens," Carley said before she lost sight of Lee going down the stairs.

"Will do;" he responded back, smiling and then heading back down.

There would be times where she couldn't get Lee out of her head. She really had feelings for him. She never had this feeling with someone before, besides Doug. But she tried her hardest not to think about him, about what happened to him. To this day, she still wonders why Lee chose her over Doug. Sometimes she wishes it would be the other way around.

Carley watched as Lee told the group about his past, individually. Moments later, he headed back up the stairs. "Wasn't so bad, was it tough guy?" She said, with a little giggle following. They both smiled, then Carley's smile fell. After seconds of silence, Carley added, "Our group is small," Lee had looked at her, watching the figures of humans below them, the humans they all trusted with their lives.

Lee hooked on with what Carley was saying. "You're small," and the edges of his lips curved up into a smile. She noticed what he said, leaning in and setting her hand on his shoulder to give Lee an affectionate kiss on the cheek.

"Don't call me small," she said, leaning back from him and winking. Lee felt even warmer inside, realizing he was probably blushing. He thought to himself, so she really does have feelings for me? After talking about everything the group responded with, Lee decided to go check on the group after minutes of talking. Before he left her, they both looked at each other, realizing they were growing a wonderful relationship between each other that no one could ruin.


	2. Chapter 2

As Lee opened his eyes, he awoke to darkness. He shook his head to wake him up, realizing he was on duty on top of the RV with the rifle sitting on his lap. He looked around, seeing no movement in the motor inn, or out. He smiled of relief, glad no one seen him sleeping on duty.

As he looked around, he heard a crash nearby Carley's room. His eyes quickly widened being so startled with the noise; he jumped out of his chair setting the rifle on the chair. He climbed down the ladder on the side of the RV, and quietly ran to Carley's room.

He knocked on the door, "Carley? Carley, are you okay?" After silence, he started pounding on the door. He remembered Lilly kept a master key that opens all of the doors. She kept it with whoever was on duty just incase anything were to happen. So, Lee went back to grab the keys that were next to the chair which was lying on the roof of the RV. He hopped back off the RV, making a clinging sound from the keys hooked onto his belt loop. He headed back to Carley's room, and he slowly unlocked the door to see Carley sitting on her bed, having her head in her hands.

"Carley, are you alright?" Lee said, heading to sit next to Carley. Lee put his hand on her back, trying to calm her.

"I'm sorry you have to see me like this, Lee. It's just getting so tough." Lee's eyes drowned in sorrow. She was sick of everything; the walkers, arguing, just all of this chaos happening around them.

"If you ever want to talk, about anything, I'll always be here for you." Lee went to give Carley a warm, cozy hug. He was surprised she didn't resist it, but she even hugged him back. After a couple of moments, Carley looked better than before, a lot calmer. Apparently, all she needed was a hug from a loved one to cheer her up.

"I'll take over the rest of your shift. You need a break." Carley said, patting Lee on the back and smiling.

"Thanks. I appreciate it." After they both left Carley's room, Lee headed to his and Clementine's room. He quietly opened the door to see Clementine awake, coloring on the wooden desk that was next to the bathroom.

"How come you're up this early?" Lee asked Clementine, with an eyebrow perking up in curiosity.

"I heard you calling and talking to Carley. I was worried something happened to her and I wasn't able to fall back asleep. Sorry, Lee." Clementine said, looking up at him. Lee smiled, kneeling down next to the desk.

"It's fine, sweet pea. Whatcha making?" He said, looking over at the paper with brown, purple, blue, yellow, and green scribbled onto it.

Clementine smiled, "I'm drawing you, me, and Carley. I wanted to make it for Carley so she can feel better." Clementine said, beginning to color Carley's vest purple.

"Awe, that's very sweet of you Clem. I'm sure she'll like it." Lee said, with a smile on his face looking down at the picture. They were all holding hands. Clementine was in the middle of Lee and Carley, smiling.

"I'm going to go wake up Kenny so we can go get some more supplies, okay? You stay here with the rest of the group until we come back." He said, about to head out of the door.

"Okay, be safe." Clementine said, looking up at her guardian with a smile.

Lee smiled back, closing the door. He went to go wake Kenny, who was sleeping like a baby. Kenny and Lee then went into the hell-filled world to scavenge for supplies to survive.

As they both reached the Drugstore again for the second time, it looked even worse than before. The last time they were here, the ladder to get in broke and hell broke loose with a girl that came out of an alley. They would be lucky if there was anything at all left for them to take.

There was a hole in the wall, about the size of a door, just quite smaller on the side of the building. Lee stepped in first, having his rifle by his side. He gave Kenny the signal that everything was clear. He stepped inside the building, looking at shelves completely empty.

"Are you sure anything is going to be in here? Last time we raided completely of anything that was here." Kenny said, looking around at the aisles in the store. Lee's face was missing a smile. You could tell he looked worried.

"There better be as hell something here. There's no where left to go if there isn't." Lee said, starting to check the other side of the store. With excitement, one of the last aisles at the end of the store had some energy bars, medicine, and canned foods. Lee grabbed everything his hands could hold.

Kenny looked over to him with surprise. "You found somethin'?" He said, with a quirky expression. He speed-walked over to Lee, who was gathering the supplies.

"Yep, some medicine and food, it can probably last about a week and a half." He said, with a smile on his face. He was glad that they found something so they didn't have to get lectured by Lilly.

Kenny had found some more supplies on the other side and a basket to carry it all. Though it wasn't that much, they were both two happy men.

They walked back to the Motor Inn, keeping their eyes peeled for any movement. Kenny carried the basket, while Lee was ahead of him with his rifle in hand.

After time, they reached the Motor Inn again to see Lilly on duty. Kenny raised the basket to her, and she smiled. That was the first time she had ever smiled ever since what happened at the St. John's.


	3. Chapter 3

Lee was sleeping in his full size bed under the covers. Before he went to bed, he decided to sleep in his boxers and a t-shirt. He was awoken by his bedroom door being closed. He sat up in his bed, startled. He looked at his watch on his left arm. 9:23 in the morning.

"Wow. This is the longest I've ever went since everything went to hell." Lee whispered to himself. He hopped out from under the covers grabbing his pants that were folded nicely on the nightstand next to his bed. He had to jump a couple of times to get into his pants. He went over to the door to grab his brown leather jacket that was hanging on the door. As he put it on, he opened up his bedroom door fixing the jacket collar. It looked like everyone was up. Lilly was on the lookout, Clementine and Duck were playing soccer, Ben and Carley were talking, Kenny and Katjaa were sitting on the couch watching Clementine and Duck, and everyone seemed calm. It was a surprise to Lee; he thought everything was back to normal. But in reality, he knew that would never happen. As he gazed around again, he realized everyone actually looked happy and calm for once. Lee wondered what was bringing that on.

Lee went over to check on Clementine first. "Hey Clem, are you having fun with Duck?" Lee asked, leaning on the side of the RV.

"Yep. Lilly found this soccer ball in one of the rooms for me and Duck. Do you want to play with us? You can be on my team!" Clementine asked anxiously, with a large grin on her face as she picked up the ball.

"Sure, sweet pea." As the three of them kicked the ball back and forth, Lee noticed Carley get up from sitting down out of the corner of his eye. He looked over to her, who had her hand in front of her mouth to hide the giggling of the sight of Lee playing soccer with Clementine and Duck. He smirked, and shook his head in embarrassment.

After a bit of playing, Lee wanted to talk to Carley. "Hey, I'm going to go talk to Carley. You two have fun and be careful, okay?" Lee said, kicking the soccer ball to Clementine.

"Okay," they both said at the same time, and went back to focus on kicking the soccer ball to each other. Lee walked over to Carley, who was still laughing at him.

"Was it really that funny?" Lee said, with a smile upon his face.

"Yes, it was. It looked like they were having a lot of fun too. The most they've probably both had in a while. I'll admit though, it was very kind of you to play with them." Carley said, as she gently wiped dirt off of Lee's face with her thumb with a sense of affection.

"Oh, haha thanks. Really aren't any mirrors here." Lee said, somewhat blushing.

"It's not like we need mirrors. I guess we can all let others know if they have something on their face." Carley said, looking up into Lee's cozy, warm eyes.

"I'll be the one to remind you everyday how beautiful you are." Lee said, gently brushing a part of Carley's hair behind her soft, warm, ear. Carley blushed, leaning to give Lee a tight hug. Carley wrapped her arms around his upper-back and Lee wrapped his arms around her waist. This is the most comfortable they've both felt in a while.

"I really love you, Carley. I really do." Lee said, being able to rest his head on hers because of the height difference.

"I love you too, Lee, even more than coffee." Carley said, to keep the mood upright. She leaned her head on his shoulder. They both laughed, not paying attention to the group looking at them. They didn't care about anything else at the time besides each other.

Lilly finally gave in with jealousy and yelled, "Lee, it's time for your shift." They let go of each other, looking up at Lilly.

"Alright, be there in a sec." Lee yelled back to Lilly, who was cautiously watching the two lovers.

"You heard the boss. Get up there before she gets pissed." Carley said, with a crooked smile.

"Okay fine. Stay safe, beautiful." Lee said, with a wink. Carley smiled back. Lee went to go take his shift on the RV and hazily looked at the outside of the motor inn. Everything was still besides the wind blowing through the trees. He looked down at the group to see Carley playing soccer with Clementine and Duck.

He let out a small laugh and turned back to the view of the forest in front of the motor inn and kept his eyes peeled for any movement. Breaking the silence, were two nearby gunshots that startled the whole group.

They heard yelling in the distance, "I told them not to fucking mess with our deal! Those bastards, they weren't going to last long anyways!" The whole group tried not to make a sound. The yelling faded, relieving the group. The first thing everyone heard was groans, and moans. They didn't sound human, nor animal. There was only one option left. It was the sound of walkers.

Lee's mind went blank. In the moment, Lee had no idea what to say. He quietly said under his breath: 'Oh, shit.' He jumped up, yelling, "Everyone! Get in the RV, now!"


	4. Chapter 4

As they ambushed into the small RV, they could hear the groans of the undead passing by. Lee was the last to get in, slamming the door shut behind him. The group was crammed inside, not much space anywhere. Lee stayed put, putting his finger before his lips signaling everyone to be quiet. Thankfully, they all listened and not a word was said until Lilly busted out with anger.

"What the hell is the meaning of this?!" Lilly ferociously exclaimed, and the group was surprised there was no steam that came out of her ears as she yelled.

"Those fucking gunshots probably attracted them. They musta' been nearby," Kenny said in a low whisper voice, closing the drapes on the windows so the walkers can't see the group inside. As Lee guarded the door with his body, moments later he heard the sound of a small, whimpering child. And he suddenly realized that the small child was Clementine. She was at the end of the RV in a chair, curled in a little ball, scared out of her poor mind. Lee fit himself through the crowd in the RV to get to the end where Clem was laying. He reached to pat her back as she sat up to look at him, almost tears in her eyes.

"I'm scared, Lee... Are we going to be okay?" Lee looked at her, full of sorrow. He wasn't sure what would happen, but he didn't want to scare Clementine anymore.

"It's alright Clem, we'll be fine. We just have to wait for them to pass then we can feel free to go back to normal, okay?" He said, having Clem lean on him for a feeling of protection. There was silence, waiting and listening, and after a couple of minutes there was no more noises coming from outside the RV.

The group was quiet, and no one spoke a word. After some time, Lee ended the silence.

"I'll check it out," Lee said, trying not to imagine what might have happened to the fence, or anything else. As he slowly opened the RV door and walked outside, he turned around the corner of the RV, peeking his head out. From what he could see, nothing was totally damaged. Just some fence parts had broken off, the walkers probably trying to get inside but unable to do so. It would be easy to fix, though.

"Its all clear," he said as the group huddled out of the small, crowded area, sighing of relief. Lilly walked over to the fence, examining it then looking both ways for sights of walkers. Thankfully, there was no such luck.

"They must have gone into the forest or something, I can't see them at all down the street," she said, while heading herself over to Ben. Lee overheard her telling him it's his turn to be on watch because she needs a break. She walked over to her bedroom and slammed her door shut. Ben nervously watched the forest for any sight of movement. Lee could hear Katjaa telling the story of The Three Little Pigs to Clementine and Duck, trying her hardest to calm them and Kenny checking out the inside of the mini-grey RV. He knew where everyone was except for one person. The only member Lee didn't spot was his beloved, Carley.

He looked around the Motor Inn, to see her bedroom door open just a crack. He walked up the stairs, heading to her room. He slowly pushed the door open, trying not to bother her. She was lying on her bed, staring at the cream-color, blank ceiling of the motel room.

"Hey," she called, not moving her eyes away from the ceiling. Lee had walked over to lie next to Carley. He was next to her on her bed, their bodies slightly touching with warmth.

Lee could tell Carley looked frustrated and didn't want anyone to bother her. She just wanted some alone time, but in a situation like this, it's hard to have some alone time. Lee knew the feeling. He has wanted a break from everything, the group, the walkers, just pretty much everything for a while now. This might be the only time he could get something like that. He looked up at the blank ceiling where she was looking.

"Whatcha' thinking about?" He asked, looking at Carley's emotionless face.

"Oh nothing, everything is just getting really rough to deal with," she said, biting her lip with frustration. She really didn't want to talk about anything, even to Lee.

"Sorry you feel that way Carley," Lee said, moving his body slightly upwards trying not to make it too obvious that he was moving.

"It's fine, I just wish things were back to normal, whe-" She was interrupted by Lee leaning over her, and she realized their lips were touching. It was a couple of seconds until they finally separated.

"If you wanted things back to normal, you would've never met me," he said, curving a smile and winking, still leaning over Carley. She smiled, pulling Lee down for another kiss with her hands around his neck. With signs of affection, Lee didn't resist the kiss. Lee would've guessed that made her feel better than before. He can't stand someone he loves and cares for deeply feel frustrated with themselves and feel depressed.

He leaned up from Carley's warm body, to lie next to her. They both cuddled up together on the full size bed. He laid his arm on her chest, and both of them drifted off to sleep, forgetting everything they worried about laying ahead of them.


	5. Chapter 5

They had both awoken to giggling and running. Duck and Clem were playing tag. Lee was first to get out of bed, grabbing his leather jacket on the desk. He put it on, looking back at Carley.

"It's time to get up, sleepy head," he said with a smile. She got up and laughed, rolling her eyes sarcastically.

"To be honest, that was the best I have slept in a while. I... Just felt really protected because I was with you," she said, slightly smiling. Lee laughed, tossing her the purple vest that lay next to his leather jacket on the desk.

"Hey, it was a pleasure. It's no problem if you need a 'tough guy' to protect you at night," he said, with a wink. She rolled her eyes, heading out the door with Lee.

As Lee walked out of the motel room with Carley, he seen the kids running around and Kenny was looking at the RV.

As the two of them walked down the stairs with each other, Kenny looked over by the noise of them coming down. He hollered over to Lee.

"Hey Lee, can you come here for a minute? I need to talk to you." He said, waving with his hand to get his attention.

Lee looked at Carley, "I'll be right back, okay? Why don't you play with the kids? I'm sure they'll like your company." He said, smiling remembering when he played with them yesterday with the soccer ball.

She nodded with a smile, heading over their way.

Lee walked over to Kenny. "What's up?" He asked with a curious face. Kenny had a large grin on his face, excited about something but Lee wasn't so sure what.

"I got the RV to work. We can really leave this dump. You know, you, Carley, Clementine, my family..." He said in a low tone. He didn't want to alarm anyone else of what they were speaking of.

Lee thought it wasn't a bad idea. "What about Lilly and Ben? They're still in the group too, ya' know."

Kenny rolled his eyes. "It's their choice if they want to come. We have more than enough space."

Honestly, the Motor Inn was pretty safe but that safety could end at any time. Though none of them were sure if they could find anywhere else, it was something they could always give a try.

"When do you want to tell the group about this? I'm sure they'd all like to know eventually." Lee said, looking back at the members of the group doing their thing.

Kenny had a crooked smile. It looked like he wasn't so sure. "I guess _we_ can tell them tonight? Like get the whole group together and mention it to everyone."

Lee nodded. He knew it really wasn't that bad of an idea to try to find somewhere else for shelter.

As the day went on, the darker and gloomier the skies got. It was still light out, but almost close to dusk. Kenny looked at Lee, who looked back at him. They both nodded at each other to signal they were ready to give the group their new idea.

Kenny huddled over by the RV while Lee called the group to come on over. "Hey guys, can you come here for a second?"

Katjaa, Clementine, Duck, Carley, and Ben walked on over as Lilly was behind, slouching. Lee could tell there was mixed emotions between the group members. There was worry, anxiousness, and excitement on their faces.

"We have something to tell you." Kenny said, as he looked over to Lee with fear in his eyes.

Lee smiled, "We were thinking that we could take the RV and try to get out of here and find somewhere else to go. Somewhere else with better shelter and more safety, ya' know?"

Everyone looked at each other. No one had any thoughts on the idea, until Clementine finally spoke up. "...And what if we don't find a place to go? What do we do then?"

There had to be shelter, somewhere out there. If they had to go through some walkers to get there, it wasn't that big of a deal. They've dealt with worse. Lee knelt to get down to Clementine's height. "I'm sure there's somewhere to go, there has to be. I'm sure we can always find a large house, or something."

That wasn't something Lee or Kenny wanted to worry about. They've had enough on their hands and don't need anything else. The group didn't disagree with the idea. Surprisingly, everyone had nothing to say about it except Clementine. Strangely, that frightened Lee. Was there something wrong? He knew everyone just went through a lot especially Lilly at the St. John's dairy, but that was the past. It's best for them if they focus on the future and not their past. It wasn't important at the time.

Lee and Kenny decided that it would be best to travel in the morning the next day. It would be too dangerous and too hard to see at night driving down the roads of rural Georgia.

The next morning, everyone woke up at the break of dawn. The set out on their journey right when everyone was up, packed, and ready to go. Last to get in was Lee. As he scanned the area for anything that might have been left, he spotted the black-and-white soccer ball laying on the ground next to the couch.

"One minute, I need to get something." Lee ran out really quick, grabbed the soccer ball, and smiled. As he re-entered the RV, he hid the soccer ball behind his back so it was a surprise to Clementine and Duck.

"Hey Clem, pick a hand." Lee said, with a smile. Clementine's faced lightened with joy.

"My dad always used to play this game with me! He'd always have a surprise for me." She said. Lee felt bad that it brought back memories of Clementine's dad, but it didn't look like it bothered her.

She thought about it for a while. She finally ended up picking Lee's left hand. He actually had the soccer ball in his right, but he quickly switched it behind his back. As she seen the soccer ball, she jumped up with joy.

"You brought it! I thought it was gone forever because Duck forgot to take it." She said, looking at Duck with her arms crossed looking serious.

"I didn't forget to bring it, you did!" Duck responded with a yell.

"Hey now guys, don't worry about who forgot to bring it. You guys have it now." Lee said, smiling at the two children. They were frustrated with each other before, but now they were smiling. Kenny was the driver, crashing out of the Motor Inn busting through the fence Mark and Larry had built. The group looked back through one of the windows at the end of the RV, looking at the place that gave them a place to stay for a couple of months. Though it was a bumpy ride, Lee had a really good feeling that leaving the Motor Inn was a good idea.


	6. Chapter 6

The group tried not to get too far from the Motor Inn in case they had to head back. Eventually after about a half hour of searching, they ended up finding a reasonable size two story ranch house on the end of one of the side-streets. The house looked stable enough to shelter eight people.

Kenny stopped the RV in the house's driveway, trying not to make a lot of noise.

Lee was first to exit out of the vehicle, Kenny following him from behind.

The house was a dark red, secured with a fenced backyard, about 6 feet high. All of the houses in the town had boarded up windows. There was no way to see what lays inside.

Lee slowly ran up to the front door of the house with his hand-gun to his side. With anxiousness, he twisted the door knob to find it locked.

"Dammit. It's locked." He said back to Kenny who was behind him.

Kenny shook his head. "Yeah, I figured."

Lee peeked around the front entrance to possibly find some sort of a secret key. Sadly, he didn't find one.

"How about we go check around the back? Tell everyone to stay in the RV and if one of us yells, come and find us." Lee said to Kenny, who was already heading around the back without warning.

Lee ran up behind Kenny who spotted a gate to the backyard on the side of the house. Sadly, that one was locked too.

"Hey, don't you have some... experience with climbing fences? Give it a try and see if you can unlock it from inside." Kenny said.

Lee nodded. Fortunately, he was tall enough to look over the fence on his tippy-toes. From what he could see, it was all clear.

He raised both of his hands to the top of the fence and pulled himself over and plopped down on the other side.

There was silence.

"Lee? Lee, are you there? Hello?" Kenny asked, trying to get a look over the fence. He became worried, not knowing what happened to Lee and not being able to see over the fence.

There was a click. Kenny backed away from the fence, raising his gun to whatever was about to come out.

The door opened. "Whoa, whoa. Put your gun down old man, it's only me." Lee said with a laugh.

Kenny didn't look too amused. Lee led him into the backyard to see a full porch, swing, an empty dog house, and a small swimming pool.

Kenny's eyes lit up. That was the first time he had seen an area of land that wasn't damaged by the undead.

The backyard reminded Lee of Clementine's house. It had everything except a tree-house.

The two of them walked over to the back door, looking inside for anything moving or anything useful. The house looked pretty protected and from what they could see inside, it had plenty of supplies.

Lee hit the latch of the back-door, sliding it open. Both Kenny and Lee had smiles on their faces.

The inside of the house looked like nothing happened to it. Maybe the people that lived here left it in a hurry and didn't pack anything.

Lee walked inside of the house. It was silent. He didn't hear anything moving or just any noises at all.

"I'm going to go get the group to come check this out. This is great." Kenny said, running out of the house.

Lee decided to investigate. Once you walked into the back of the house, you went into the living room that had all wooden floors. There was 2 couches, 3 recliners, and a coffee table with a flatscreen TV on one side of the room and on the other it was a fireplace.

Next, he walked into the next room which was the kitchen. It had marble counters and pale white checkered floors. He opened up the fridge to see it turned off, remembering there was no power. Sadly, majority of the food was spoil. There was some dairy and meats that just made him sick to the stomach. He opened up some cabinets to find cereal, cans of food, mixes, almost anything you can think of.

He then had investigated the whole downstairs of the house which led him to the upstairs.

He had his gun to his side, aware of anything that might happened. He tried to be as quiet as he can, but the stairs were very squeaky.

He reached the first room, quietly opening up the door to find a computer/book room. He walked inside, looking at the collection of different genres of books, magazines, brochures, etc. There was a HP laptop sitting on the desk in the room. It looked pretty dusty, probably been turned off for a while.

He opened up the laptop to find the power button above the keyboard. He clicked it, and it light up to a bright white color.

He jumped up with surprise to see that the laptop turned on. It had probably been turned off for a while, and the battery was saved over time.

Once he logged into the account, of course there was no wifi.

Lee had a crooked smile on his face as he shut off the laptop and closed it.

The next room he approached was a children's bedroom. There was two small beds in the middle of the room, with toys scattered around here and there. He'd leave that mess later for Clementine and Duck to work with.

He'll admit that the house was gigantic. From the hallway, he could see that there was four rooms left.

The next room must of been a guest room. There was a full size bed with a TV, and another desk but with no computer.

He walked out into the next room which was across the hallway and was another guest room. It looked exactly the same except that the first room was a cream color and a light green, and the second room was a cream color and a sky blue.

The second to last room he walked into must of been the master bedroom. It was huge, with another full size bed in the middle of the room, a huge dresser, a TV, a closet, and another door leading to another room.

He walked inside the room, heading over to the door. He again raised his gun, slowly opening the door to find the bathroom.

The bathroom looked fancier than fancy. The bathtub was huge, the mirror on the wall was so clear, the sink was long, and the toliet was just very fancy. The room was a light brown atmosphere.

He walked out of the master bedroom, opening the last door that led to the bathroom again. He's checked the whole upstairs and downstairs, and it's all clear.

As he walked back down the stairs, he heard hollering.

He ran down to find a door open besides the kitchen which he thought was a pantry but led to the basement.

"Guys? What's wrong?" Lee asked, as he went down the stairs.

"Lee... You need to see this..." Carley hollered back.

As he turned the corner to see the group, he put his hand over his mouth in surprise.

There in the basement, must of been the family that had lived here. They were hanging from the ceiling, ropes around their necks. There was two adults, must of been the parents, and two small children.

"Oh my god..." Lilly said, as tears streamed down her face.

Everyone felt disgusted yet horrible that it had to happen to a whole family.

Clementine stood in a corner whimpering as she did at the St. John's. Lee went over to comfort her, bringing her back upstairs.

"I'm sorry you had to see something like that, sweet pea." Lee said, with sorrow in his eyes.

Clementine wiped away a tear on her face. "Is... Is that going to happen to us, Lee?"

"No, no, honey. It won't,_ I promise_." Lee said, hugging Clementine.

Lee went to lead her to the children's room he found. She went from sorrow to joy in less than a second.

"I'm going to tell Duck to come here and play with me!" She said, running down the stairs.

Lee followed behind her, watching as she stood from the top of the basement stairs hollering for Duck.

"Duck? Duck, c'mere! I have to show you something awesome!"

"Okay!" He said, running up the stairs and following Clementine.

Lee thought, that'll keep them busy for a while.

He went back down the stairs to see the group in shame.

The sound of Lee coming down the stairs startled everyone. Kenny turned around to see Lee.

"Hey... I think we should get them out of here." He said, looking down.

Lee understood. He didn't want any of them to see what these poor people went through because of the cause of the outbreak. It was just all madness.

They unhooked the ropes from the ceiling and carried the bodies up one-by-one.

They found an alley between the house they were at, and the house behind them. It was just grass and dirt. They figured they deserved a real burial.

Lee wasn't one for crying, but he felt a tear stream down his face while setting the bodies into the ground.

Kenny had found a shovel leaning on the side of the house. He gave it to Lee who began scooping up the dirt onto the bodies.

Kenny had went back inside to check on the group really quick. Lee was pretty much done with the burial until he heard something moving in the backyard of the house behind him.

He wasn't so sure what it was. I didn't make any moans like a walker would, yet any voices like a survivor would.

Lee shoveled the last bit of dirt in the hole, then set the shovel down to lean against the fence.

He brought himself over the fence of the other house, seeing a clear backyard with a small dog house.

Lee hopped over, bringing his gun out of his back pocket. He walked around the backyard to find nothing. He even walked over to the backyard door, looked inside, and everything looked empty.

With disappointment, he went to hop back over the fence until he heard something move behind him.

He slowly turned around to see a dog. It was black and tan, skinny of course, with it's tail down.

Lee knelt on the ground. "Hey boy, c'mere."

The dog slowly walked over, cautious of anything that could happen.

Lee pet his head, all the way down to his butt.

He wasn't very good at classifying breeds of dogs, but this one looked like an Airedale Terrier.

From what he's heard and learned, they used to be police dogs before German Shepherds.

Lee got up, and the dog slowly backed away from Lee. "Hold on, boy."

He walked over to the dog house to find a worn out squeaky toy, an empty food bowl, and a leash and collar. He knelt down again to reach inside the dog house to grab the items that were inside.

As the dog walked over to Lee, he put the dark blue collar on the dog. As he looked at the collar, there was a tag on there that had his name.

As he read the tag, he found out that the dog's name was 'Bear.'

He hooked the leash onto Bear's collar. He was about to leave the house with Bear until he realized that they didn't have any pet food.

"There has to be something in there." Lee said, walking over to the glass door. Though everything looked empty, there might of been something in one of the cabinets.

He went to go pull the door to find it locked. He sighed.

He realized he was standing on a mat that said 'Wipe Your Paws!'

He hopped off of it, picking it up to find a key.

"Finally someone around here keeps a key nearby."

He unlocked the door, and pulled it open. A bad scent of decay hit him in the face as he opened the door. He wanted to be quick with finding the dog food, if there was any, and really didn't want to investigate and find trouble.

He walked inside, leaving Bear in the backyard. He silently tip-toed into the kitchen, opening up cabinets and finding them empty.

He opened one below the sink to find a bag of 'Natural Choice Large Breed' dog food.

He grabbed the bag and headed back outside to bear, quietly closing the door and locking it, putting the key in his pocket.

He grabbed Bear's squeaky toy, dog food and bowl, and his leash and headed back to the house his group was staying at.

As he went back into the backyard of the house, he locked the gate tightly and let go of Bear's leash so he can investigate the new backyard.

Lee headed to the dog house and set his bowl down as well as the squeaky toy and dog food.

"You stay here Bear, I'm going to get the others to come and see you."

Lee walked inside the house to see Kenny, Katjaa, Carley, and Ben playing Monopoly in the living room. They must of found it in one of the rooms. They were sitting on the couches and recliners and had the game set on the coffee table. Clementine and Duck were near the unlit fireplace playing with some toys they probably found in the room upstairs, and Lilly was laying on one of the couches, resting.

"Hey guys, I want to show you something I found." Lee said, with a mysterious smile.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, unsure of what Lee was talking about.

"What is it, Lee?" Clementine asked, getting up from the spot she was, sitting on the ground.

"Come and see." He said. He led the group outside to see Bear.

Clementine and Duck were first to follow Lee. As he opened the door, Bear turned his head to see them.

"Oh my gosh! It's a puppy! Can we go and pet him, Lee?" Clementine asked, jumping up and down.

"Sure thing, sweet pea. But be careful okay?" He said.

Kenny and Katjaa smiled, seeing Duck and Clementine happy with Bear.

"Awe, he's cute Lee. What's his name?" Katjaa asked.

"His name is Bear. I found him in the backyard of the house behind us. I also find some dog food for him too." Lee responded, looking at Katjaa who was still smiling.

He figured Katjaa would like Bear because she's a vet and had to deal with dogs and other animals before. Kenny didn't mind it either as long as it made his family happy.

Carley walked out behind Katjaa and Kenny with Ben beside her. Lee was happy that Ben was finally getting along with someone besides himself.

"You found a dog?" Ben asked, with surprise.

"You bet I did." Lee said, laughing.

Ben went to walk over to the dog. "I used to have a dog back before any of this happened, too. His name was Apollo..." Ben said, traveling off with what he was saying.

Lee nodded, smiling.

"Where'd you find this cute guy?" Carley asked, with curiousness.

He looked at Carley, smiling. "I found him in the house behind us. Glad I came when I did because he probably wouldn't of lasted any longer." Lee said.

Carley walked over to the dog and knelt down to pet him.

Lilly was last to come out of the house. She looked at the dog, with anger. "You brought a dog here!? You know what that means!? That means we have another mouth to feed! Nine instead of eight. GOD! You people are_ idiots_!" Lilly blasted, clenching her fists together with frustration.

"Will you chill out? I found dog food for him inside the house. It'll probably last for a while if you look at how big the bag is. And if you don't want to deal with him, then don't. We'll take care of him and you don't have to take in any part of it." Lee said, holding Lilly's shoulders so she didn't walk away from Lee.

She sighed, walking back in the house. Lee just wanted part of everyone's lives to feel almost back to normal.

Lee walked over to the dog house and poured food into the bowl.

Bear walked over, and ended up eating everything that was in the bowl.

Lee had remembered something they found in the house was a water bottle. He went inside to go grab it and brought it back out to Bear.

He poured the water into the bowl, and Bear drank all of it too.

Lee didn't really want to know how long Bear had went without food and water. He was lucky enough to even survive this long.

Bear went to go do his business, and after everyone went inside the house. Even Bear was let inside to investigate the remains of the house.

The group went back to playing Monopoly, having fun for once.

Lilly let the group know that she went to go take a nap upstairs.

Bear had brought his squeaky toy inside the house and Ben was throwing it for Bear to go and catch and bring back.

Lee looked at his watch on his left hand. It read, 4:43 pm.

As the group was doing their thing, it started to storm outside. There was rain, lightning, and thunder. Thankfully, they were in the house and not at the Motor Inn anymore.

For once, everything felt back to normal. It was storming outside, they had plenty of supplies, there was games to play with each other, a pet to take care of, and just a house to live in.

Lee was right about leaving the Motor Inn.

After some time of playing Monopoly and playing with Bear, the group decided that it was time that they all needed a rest.

Clementine and Duck slept in the Children's room, Kenny and Katjaa called the Master bedroom, Lilly was in one of the guest rooms, and Carley had the the last one. Lee decided that it was fine with him if he slept on the couches downstairs. He really had no problem with it as long as he had somewhere to sleep.

The house was silent as the group went to bed. Bear decided to sleep with Clementine and Duck in their bedroom. Lee had put a little towel down for Bear on the floor for comfort so he doesn't have to sleep on the cold ground.

Lee kept tossing and turning during the night. The couch wasn't as comfortable as he thought it would be.

During the middle of the night, he heard something.

He quietly whispered, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

There was silence, then Lee heard Carley's voice. "Hey Lee? You know it's fine with me if you sleep with me. I know those couches aren't comfy because I sat on them while playing Monopoly."

Lee didn't want to make Carley feel uncomfortable if he slept with her. "You sure?"

"Yep, I'm positive." Carley responded.

Lee got up from the couch, straightening his back.

"Thanks so much Carley. That couch was bothering my back so much and I probably wouldn't of slept." Lee said, heading up the stairs with Carley.

"It's no problem, I don't mind." Carley said, smiling.

They reached Carley's room. Lee took off his jacket and slept in his jeans and a t-shirt. He didn't want to make Carley feel uncomfortable, so he slept far on one side.

"Thanks again, Carley." Lee said, drifting off to sleep.

There was silence, then he was awaken. Lee had felt Carley cuddle up, next to him. He smiled, drifting off to sleep again.


	7. Chapter 7

**[Sorry this took a while to get out! I've been busy with school, homework, etc. It might take a couple of days to get out Chapter 8 too, but thank you so much for being patient with me. (:]**

Lee blinked a couple of times, being awoken by Bear who had jumped on the bed with Lee.

He rolled over, to see his sleeping partner missing.

Bear hopped over to Lee to give him a kiss on the face.

He laughed, "Hey, Bear. What are you up to?" He asked, petting Bear.

The dog jumped off the bed and stopped at the doorway waiting for Lee to get out of bed.

Lee sat up, and pushed the covers back, getting up out of the bed. It didn't seem so cold outside today, so Lee didn't put on his jacket. He left it laying on the desk.

Bear led him downstairs into the living room and kitchen to see the group eating snacks that must have been in the cabinets.

Carley looked over to Lee, who was still not fully awake. "Who's the sleepy head now?" She said, smiling.

"Haha, funny." Lee said, sarcastically with humor.

Everyone was either sharing a bag of potato chips, crackers, or fruit roll-ups.

Lee went into the kitchen to see a small bag of saltines crackers sitting in the middle of the table. He grabbed a handful, eating them one by one, trying not to make a mess.

"Hey Lee? I think we're going to have to search for some supplies today. The sky's been gloomy and it looks like it might storm later and I don't want to be stuck in a house with not that much food." Kenny said, grabbing his gun off the kitchen counter.

"That's fine with me. When do you want to go?" Lee asked.

Kenny walked over to the backyard door, looking outside to the sky. "As soon as possible."

_About 30 minutes later..._

The two men were cautious of any movement around them as they walked down the street.

Lee had spotted a brick house that had the front door slightly open.

He pointed to the house, signaling Kenny to follow him as he ran over to the side.

"Do ya' hear anything?" Kenny asked, kneeling down on the grass.

There was silence between the two, Lee trying to see if he can hear any movement.

"I... I don't hear anything." He said, slowly heading to the front door.

He pushed it open to see a blood track leading upstairs.

"Shit. Do you think anything's up there?" Kenny whispered.

"I hope not." Lee responded.

They followed the track upstairs, which led into a room with the door closed.

Lee put his finger to his lips, "Shh."

Kenny nodded, staying behind Lee if anything happened.

Lee opened the door to see a girl in her teens laying on the bed, a gun in her hands.

"God dammit. It's another one gone." Lee said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"...Another?" Kenny said, closing his eyes not wanting to look at the corpse on the bed.

"Yep..." Lee said, walking over to the girl.

There was a blanket on the ground. He picked it up, and slowly covered the girl.

"Let's just look for supplies, okay?" He said, patting Kenny on the back.

The walked back downstairs, grabbing their guns out of their pockets.

"I'll check the kitchen, you check everywhere else, okay?" Kenny said, tip-toeing down the hallway to the kitchen.

Lee nodded, walking into the living room.

He examined everything in the room. There was a portrait of a family. Two parents and a teenage girl. They looked pretty wealthy.

"Must of been her, then..." Lee whispered to himself, looking at the other pictures on the walls.

"God damn. This world just keeps getting worse and worse." He said, sighing.

He heard a crash in the other room, where Kenny was.

"Kenny? You over there?" Lee asked, looking at the other pictures on the wall awaiting Kenny's confirmation.

There was silence, Lee didn't hear anything. "Kenny?"

Lee heard some sort of groan that sounded the same from the time at the Motor Inn. "No, no no-no."

"SHIT! LEE! LEE HELP ME!" He heard someone holler.

Lee ran into the room to see a broken plate on the ground and Kenny's gun.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" Lee hollered back, running into the hallway to see Kenny laying on the ground with the girl's corpse tangled on his leg.

"SHIT!" Lee grabbed his gun out of his pocket. Lee knew this was going to be a tough shot, he didn't want to blast Kenny's leg.

He lined the top of the gun with the girl's head, put his finger on the trigger, and _boom_.

There was silence.

Lee was afraid to open his eyes. He was afraid that it was too late for Kenny.

He lifted one eyelid, the other following.

Kenny was sitting up on the ground, pushing the girl away from his leg.

"Fuck. That was close." Kenny said.

Lee gave out his hand for Kenny, to help him up.

"Thanks, you literally saved my life from that girl. I thought she was... dead. Like, officially."

"Me too." Lee responded.

They started to go through the cabinets in the kitchen as it started to storm outside.

"Shit. Of course it would start raining." Kenny said, rolling his eyes in frustration.

They grabbed some snacks and headed back out the door.

They started heading back to the ranch house they were staying at when they heard something, or someone behind them.

Lee and Kenny turned around to see the a horde of walkers.

"RUN!" Lee yelled to Kenny, who already began.

Lee kept looking behind them, to see the horde following back behind them.

"This would happen to us! We're just that lucky!" Kenny yelled, being sarcastic.

The reached the ranch house, running into the backyard and immediately closing the gate door.

They had to take a couple of breaths before they said anything to each other.

"Do you think they seen us?" Kenny said, still breathing heavily.

"I really don't know, but I hope not..." Lee responded back.

Lilly ran outside to the two of them, leaning on the fence.

"What took you guys so long?" She asked, with a frustrated face.

"A lot." Lee responded, looking up at Lilly with the group that had walked out behind her.

Kenny sighed, "We went to go look for supplies and met a girl that we thought was gone already but she wasn't. I almost had my leg chewed off. Also, while we were leaving, the horde was after us. I think the fucking storm stirred 'em up." He said, handing the supplies to Lee who had straightened himself after leaning on the fence.

"Well, you guys better get back inside before you get sick. It's gotten pretty cold outside." Carley said, taking Duck and Clementine back inside with Bear following.

Everyone went back inside the ranch and went through the supplies.

It wasn't really that much food, but it was enough to last.

Everyone was eating the rations around in the living room while Lee was sitting in the kitchen watching Clementine draw on the table.

From what it looked like, she was drawing the group together holding hands with Bear. Lee smiled at the sight of the drawing.

"L-Lee? I've been thinking lately." Clementine said, looking up from her drawing.

"About what?" Lee asked, looking at Clem curiously.

"A-Are we ever going to find my parents? I know they're in Savannah... They stay at the same hotel every time they go. Maybe they're there, waiting for us to come find them."

Lee wasn't sure if her parents were still alive. It wouldn't have been very likely, but he didn't want to let Clementine down.

"I'm sure we will." Lee said, smiling at Clementine.

The two of them could always take the RV and go looking for her parents. It wouldn't have been that long of a ride.

What would the group do if Lee wasn't there for them, though?

If it wasn't for him today, Kenny wouldn't of been alive.

He's saved almost everyone's life that's here now.

They'd be in trouble if he wasn't here for them.


	8. Chapter 8

**[Jeez! I feel horrible for not updating for a couple of days! I'll get my butt working on Chapter 9 ASAP!]**

Lee headed outside of the small red ranch house to insert the RV key into the ignition. He hopped inside the RV and inserted the key. The RV started up, relieving Lee that they didn't have to walk. He finally decided that he wanted to go look with Clementine down in Savannah, Georgia for her parents, Diana and Ed.

Before he left from inside of the house, he let Clementine know that they were going to head out for a couple of days to search. If they don't find anything after 24 hours at least, they're immediately coming back to the ranch to the rest of the group who was supposedly staying here. They wanted to keep safe and not get into any danger that could be in Savannah. Clementine was fine with that idea, absolutely positive they would find her parents.

As Lee hopped out of the RV, the group came running outside of the front door wondering what was going on with Lee starting the RV. He hadn't had time to let them know that he was going with Clementine to search for her parents.

"Lee? Where are you going?" Carley asked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. He could tell Kenny was about to ask the same exact thing though Carley had beaten him to it.

"I forgot to let you guys know... I'm leaving with Clementine to find her parents. Down in Savannah, Georgia." He said, scratching his head nervously hoping they wont be aggravated with him.

Kenny shook his head. "You forgot to tell us this? Something as big as this? C'mon, Lee. You can't risk somethin' like that."

The words 'You can't risk something like that' stuck in Lee's head. It felt as if Kenny was doubting him and Clementine. They've been through far enough and can handle anything that comes at them. They're a _team._

"Well, I'm going to go with her to find her parents even if you guys don't want to help." Lee said, edging his words.

Those six words were still stuck in his head. He couldn't believe Kenny would say something like that to him. It felt as if Kenny actually betrayed him, didn't believe in him _or_ Clementine.

"Lee, come on, stay with us. We need you here." Katjaa pleaded, frowning at the sight of Lee frustrated.

He shook his head and began to turn around to hop into the RV when he heard a female voice burst out behind him. Lee turned around to see Carley next to Clementine, holding hands.

"I'm coming with you, no matter what." She said, looking down at Clementine then back at Lee.

He knew he couldn't reject Carley coming with. He couldn't hurt her feelings. She's a big help in the group and there was just something between them he didn't want to break.

Lee smiled, nodding at the woman in front of him. "You can come with if you'd like." He indicated, seeing something moving out of the corner of his eye.

He looked over to his right to see the army. His eyes blew up in fear. It wasn't an alive army. It was the army of the undead. In fear, he quickly leaded Clementine and Carley in the RV as well as himself. The rest of the group stood outside in horror, unsure what was their next move. Lilly ran up to the front door of the house and quickly opened it, running inside for safety. Katjaa and Duck followed behind her, leaving Kenny and Ben outside standing still, frightened. Before Ben did anything, he quickly looked both ways. He had two choices, the safety of the house, or the safety of the RV with the people he truly trusted. He panicked, barely running into the RV before it took off. Kenny ran into the house, looking at the RV head down the street, and quickly slammed the door shut.

Lee sat on the driver's side and Carley was in the passengers. Both Ben and Clementine were sitting in the back, Clementine having Ben guess what her drawings were to keep him amused. Carley ended up looking back a couple of times expecting to see the horde after us, but they were long-lost in the road at the speed they were going now. They had passed some streets, some looking empty, yet some looking full of walkers.

Carley looked out the window, looking at the houses, stores, gas stations, all the buildings they were passing. "So... Do you even know where you're going?" She asked, looking at Lee, his eyes focused on the road.

He took a glance over to Carley who pulled out a map from the glove department. "Nope, all I know is that we're heading to The Marsh House. Have any idea where that's at?" He admitted, looking down at the map resting on Carley's lap.

"Let me check." She answered, using her pointer finger to follow roads on the map. As she focused on the map, Lee noticed she was sticking her tongue out because she was so into what she was doing. He thought it was pretty cute. "Oh! I found it! It should be on Broughton St in Downtown Savannah, Georgia." She said, looking up a Lee with an anxious smile.

"Thanks Carley, I knew you would be a huge help." He said, making Carley blush. She went off into the back of the RV to check on Clementine and Ben and keep the company. Lee took glances over at the map on the chair next to him a couple of times to make sure he was going the correct way. From what it looked like, he was on the right track. They had encountered some walkers in the road, but Lee was able to slip pass them without getting them stuck under the RV and/or running over them.

It took some time to get there. Thankfully, Lee was able to beat a train coming down to a stop so he didn't end up getting stuck behind it and take more time to get to Savannah. They took a short stop at an abandoned Shell gas station, looking inside the Food Mart to find some supplies, but not enough to last a while. Lee taught Ben some tricks of driving for when he ever needed it, and Carley had colored with Clementine in a notebook she found at the ranch house.

Though it was a long ride there, all four of them still made it fairly healthy and alive.


	9. Chapter 9

**[Agh, another long wait for you wonderful people. I apologize! Hopefully I can get Chapter 10 in sooner since I'll be on Spring Break soon.]**

Before Lee hit the brakes, he checked in the rear-view mirrors to make sure there were no walkers about. He stopped the RV, glancing over to see the '_Welcome to Savannah_' sign to the right of him. He took an extremely large sigh of relief, nervously wiping the sweat off of his forehead. He turned his head to take a peek at Ben, Clementine, and Carley behind him. Clementine was drawing on the table with Carley, Lee unsure of what the picture was. Ben was laying down on the bench taking a short nap. Lee smiled, about to get up when he looked at the road ahead of him. From as far as he could see, it looked pretty clear. But that didn't mean that it wasn't all safe.

Lee went to go take a step outside, with Clementine and Carley following him. The noise of them exiting the RV didn't bother Ben. He stayed still, quietly snoring. Lee looked around at the environment, reminding him of the area where the ranch house was. He frowned, hoping they were all still okay though himself and Carley had left them without much warning.

"Do you think they're all still okay?" Carley asked, her eyes wandering around the area surrounding them.

Lee held his head pretty low, unsure if they were okay or not. He didn't want to let anyone else down, especially the people he decided to bring with him on his journey to find Clem's parents. "We better hope they are. Without them, we won't have many chances for survival." He responded, sounding pretty confident with his answer.

Carley nodded, "Okay, but where are we going to stay? I don't think we can stick with the RV the whole time." She mentioned, looking up at Lee, who was about a couple of inches taller than her.

"We'll have to fi-" He was interrupted by a Church bell ringing in the distance. Confused, Lee took a look at his watch. "It's 3:42, why would a Church bell be ringing now?"

They were looking at the land ahead of them mysterious and suspicious. As far as they could see, there was objects moving in the distance. Lee squinted his eyes, realizing that the figures moving were walkers.

"SHIT! Get down, get down!" He yelled, kneeling behind the RV with Carley and Clementine. He peeked over, seeing the figures walking to the Church to the west. "Do you think the bell got them roaming around?" He asked, pulling himself back behind the RV.

Clementine shrugged, as well as Carley. Most likely, the cause of the walkers to get up and move around was the bell. They were attracted to noise, and that was definitely loud enough for them to hear. "I guess this place isn't as safe as we thought..." Carley said, frowning and peeking out on the other side of the RV.

/

"Where the hell are they going?!" Lilly yelled, walking around the living room with frustration. She was tired with all of the crap that was happening around them and between them. She's had enough with the walkers and just people in general.

Katjaa and Duck were sitting on the couch, Duck petting Bear gently on his head. Kenny shook his head, "He said they were going to find Clem's parents; in Savannah. If they went the right way, they should be there by now." He said, sitting down with his head in his hands.

As frustrated as they could be, it wasn't time for fooling around. It isn't safe anywhere and the best thing they would be able to do was go find Lee and his group and stick with them. The only problem was that there was no transport except by foot, and that especially wasn't safe at all.

"Well, how the hell are we going to get there?" Lilly asked, still walking around the room trying to keep herself calm.

Kenny just shook his head, having no idea what to do next. They were stuck, with no plans whatsoever.

"What if we checked some of the cars parked outside on the streets? There has to be keys in one of them." Katjaa mentioned, giving Kenny and Lilly an idea to work with.

"That isn't that bad of an idea, there just _has_ to be keys somewhere." Kenny said, siding with the idea from his wife.

Lilly had no other ideas and knew they were going to meet problems if they didn't move quick. The walkers are beginning to roam around freely a little bit more than usual. She nodded her head, sighing. She went over to the front door, slightly opening it just a crack to see outside. On the street ahead of them, there was about three to four walkers roaming, not paying any attention to what was happening around them. If Lilly was fast enough, she'd be able to sneak over to some of the cars and take a quick peek inside for the sight of keys. She knew it was risky, but they all had to take the chance.

"Ssh, you guys stay here. Try to warn me if any of those damn walkers get close." Lilly said, whispering as she crouched down and walked over to a silver station wagon. She pulled the pistol out of her back pocket just in case anything were to happen, and lifted her head over the driver's window to see no keys. "Shit." She whispered to herself, looking back at Kenny and Katjaa in the doorway, Lilly shaking her head to signal them there was no keys.

She crouched behind the car in front of the silver station wagon, a maroon Subaru. Carefully, lifting her head once again, she had seen no keys. "Dammit!" She whispered, just a little louder this time. From the other side of the car, she could see that a walker, a male in his mid-40s had slightly turned his head to the sound of Lilly whispering to herself. She quickly bent down, hoping she wasn't seen.

Taking a deep breath, she quickly ran over to the third car, a turquoise Jeep. She crouched down, leaning on the car looking at Katjaa and Kenny, warning her something was coming her way. She looked up, realizing the male walker had started her way, following the sound of Lilly. She quickly looked into the Jeep to see the keys on the passenger's seat. She looked back at Kenny and Katjaa, signaling them to hurry up and get into the car. The sound of the male walker became gradually louder each second, and his steps getting louder as well. The family and the dog ran over to the car, Lilly hopping in the drivers and Kenny in the passengers, and Duck, Katjaa and Bear were sitting in the back, clinging to the seats with worry on their face. "Shit, hurry!" Kenny yelled, throwing the keys into Lilly's open hand. She grabbed them, and turned them into ignition. Without letting the car warm up, she quickly hit the gas petal and they were on their way to Savannah.


	10. Chapter 10

The sun was barely out, and the gloomy skies covered the white, fluffy clouds. The Jeep was put into park as Lilly hopped out of the car and onto the side of the road to stretch her legs. She sighed, frightened by the sky which looked like a storm was on its way. The last time she and the group encountered a storm, that ended up splitting their group up. Walking over to the other side, she grabbed Bear out of the back of the car who was sitting with Katjaa and Duck.

"Daddy? Are we going to find Lee and everyone else?" Duck asked Kenny, who looked that he wasn't in the best mood. Kenny went to kneel on the gravel to reach Duck's height. He sighed, and looked at the ground that was below him. He wanted to tell him the truth, but he didn't want to frighten the kid as well. Unsure of what to say, he decided that hope would be the best answer.

"Duck..." He said, resting his hand on his son's right shoulder. "I know they're out there somewhere, and I know we're going to find them. Don't worry too much about it, okay?" Duck nodded his head, petting Bear that sat beside him. Duck was a smart kid and he knew that the World wasn't safe anymore. Anything can happen to anyone at anytime, no matter what it could be. He wasn't sure if they'd find them _alive. _He didn't think anyone really knew whether or not they'd find them dead or alive. The least he could do was pray that either way they'd end up finding them, somewhere out in this World.

Kenny led Bear to do his business on the side of the road, and then picked him up and sat him back in the Jeep. Everyone got back inside, and as Lilly started the Jeep, she realized that we only had half of the fuel we had before left. None of them really didn't know where they were going, all they knew was that they were on their way to Savannah. "Shit. Guys, we may have a problem..." Lilly said, sighing and biting her lip. She looked at Kenny, and pointed to the gas gauge.

"We'll find gas somewhere on the way, I know it." Kenny said, trying to keep hope into finding the rest of them. He looked out the front of the window to the road ahead of them. He knew they had a long way ahead of them and they couldn't dare give up.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "And what if we don't?" She asked, getting frustrated with the man that she was sitting next to.

"We will, trust me. Now let's go before any of those damn walkers find us." Kenny said, signaling Lilly to get moving.

/

"This place looks pretty secure, get inside, hurry!" Lee said, huddling inside the backyard of an abandoned 3-story house. He quickly shut the iron gate behind him, locking it with the lock that was on the ground with the keys inserted inside. "Looks like someone was out of here in a hurry."

They walked into the backyard to see a small doghouse with a grave nearby, shed, and a back door. Clementine walked over to the doghouse and bent down to see it empty, just dust that filled inside. Lee walked over to one of the windows on the side of the house. All of they windows were boarded up and there was no way to see inside. "Well look at that, these houses are like the ones we were at before." He walked over to the back door which was also boarded up. He tried the door knob. "That was too easy. There's no way in... Wait a minute."

Bending down, Lee spotted a small door on the bottom fit for a pet such as a dog or cat. He tried pushing it open, but there was no such luck. On top of the door, there was two lights. One was green, and the other was red. The one that was lit up was red, and that must mean that it was locked. The only thing that ran inside Lee's head was 'How do we get this door open?'

Ben looked over to Lee, who was trying to figure open the door. "That doggy door is controlled by the pet itself. It only opens if the pet gets close enough to it. It probably has something on it's collar that connects with the door to open it."

"And how do you know that?" Lee asked, questioning Ben.

The boy looked down, thinking of the times he had before the apocalypse. The time he had with his family and friends before everything went to hell. He'd do almost anything to get back to then. "I used to have a pet too... Her name was Ruby. We had a doggy door just like that so whenever she wanted to go outside, she'd be able to go whenever she wanted to and we didn't have to get up and take her out. She had a sensor that was connected to her collar that whenever she got a couple of feet away from it, the door automatically opened and she'd be able to go outside."

"What happened to Ruby?" Clementine asked, curiously.

Ben looked down again, frowning. The day everything went to hell, she ran away. I think she knew what was coming and wanted to get out of here before anything happened to her. I didn't have time to find her because I had to get to school but my parents went to look for her. That's the last time I seen then and I have no idea what happened after that."

"I'm so sorry, Ben..." Carley said, walking over to the boy, and patting him on the back. Carley knew that not everyone was a fan of Ben and the best she could do was support him.

"I don't want to interrupt or anything, but how exactly do we get this door op-" Before Lee finished, his eyes caught onto the grave nearby the doghouse. He sighed, "Shit." He walked over to the side of the shed and grabbed the shovel that was leaning against it. Walking over to the other side of the backyard where the grave was, he began digging. "Clementine, I don't want you to see this, okay?" He said, looking at Carley.

"But I want to help you, Lee..." Clementine said, frowning. Lee mouthed to Carley, 'Can you talk to her over there?' and pointed to the shed. She nodded, and walked Clementine over.

After minutes of what seemed like hours of digging, he hit something in the ground. "Do you think that's it?" Ben asked, looking into the hole.

"Probably..." Lee said, sighing and finishing the job. He seen the remains of the dog, and bent down to grab it's collar. He hesitated, unsure of what could happen. Was the dog still alive, or was it dead? He carefully leaned his hand inside, and grabbed the collar off of the dog. He tried to move the collar off of the head, but when he grabbed it, the head automatically unconnected with the body and fell straight off.

Ben and Lee both gagged, disgusted by what just happened and the smell.

Lee walked over to the doggy door and set the collar nearby. The light switched to green, and he was able to push the door open. He bent down, and tried to reach the lock inside with no luck. He was too big to fit through the door and his arm wasn't long enough.

Lee looked inside, and the insides looked clear. After inspecting what looked like the living room, part of the kitchen, and the hallway from the door, he looked over to Clementine.

"Hey Clem, can ya' come here for a second?" Lee asked, as Clem walked over.

She smiled, waiting for whatever Lee was going to tell her. "I need you to _carefully _squeeze through this door and unlock it, okay? Do it as fast as you can. You'll be a big help."

Clementine nodded, and went through the door. There was silence between Lee and the door. "Clem? Did you get it?" He asked, leaning against the door to hear what was going on.

He still didn't hear anything. "CLEM? You okay? Clem!" He got up, and almost began to pound on the door when he heard a click and it opened with Clementine in the doorway.

"Ta-da!" She said, smiling and making a scene.

Lee bent down, "You scared me! I think you scared all of us for a second there!" Clementine walked over into Lee's arms and hugged him.

He got up, and carefully walked inside the house to see everything clear with his gun by his side and the rest of the group behind him. "It actually looks all clear. Check doors, okay guys?"

They nodded, and went to doors throughout the house. Throughout the house, he heard, "Clear! Clear! Clear!" coming from Ben and Carley. He went to a door that was beside the back door and opened it. Frightened, a broom fell out and scared Lee for a quick second. In front of him looked like a regular closet. Nothing there. "Clear!" He yelled.

They went upstairs and checked inside rooms, and everything was still all clear. The house was fairly safe and secure, though the only problem was that it didn't have many supplies.

"I think we'll be fine for a couple of days, at least." Lee said, hoping for the best.

**[Sorry if it seems rushed at the end. Okay, this honestly was a longer wait then expected... I've unfortunately been having some family issues and I haven't had any time to write. I hope I didn't lose any readers and I promise I'll try to get Chapter 11 in a wee bit quicker.]**


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